Gustave bouzard



Patented Mey 28,y 1889.

.l TGC N. Pneus. Phowmmgnpmr. wamingem. D. u

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

GU STAVEBOUZARD, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

COVERED CORSET-STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 404,252, dated May 28, 1889.

Application filed January 23, 1889. Serial No. 297,279. (No model.) Patented in France April 14, 1887, No. 182,864; in Belgium March 15, 1888, No. 80,813, andin England March 24, 1888, No. 4,538.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUs'rAvE BOUZARD, a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of the city of Paris, in said Republic, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Covered Corset Steels, (for which Letters Patent have been granted in France, No. 182,804, dated April 14, 1887 ,with an addition under date of December '7, 1887; Belgium, No. 80,813, dated March 15, 1888, and appl-ied for in England, No. 4,538, dated March 24,' 1888,) of which the followin specification is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a substitute for whalebone for use in garments where it is desired to give a certain stiffness while preserving the elasticity.

Heretofore various materials have been employed instead of whalebone-notably steel, reed, an d horn4-of which steel, o n aceountof its constant elasticity, is particularly suitable. It has, however, been employed in the form of flat and rather broad bands or strips, in which form it is not perfectly adapted to 'replace whalebone on account of the frequent ruptures and because iiexure normally can only take place iiatwise of the strip, and the broad strip cannot adapt itself to the curves of the body, as in corsets, for example.

According to the present invention, steel is employed in the form of wire (round, square, or even flat) or narrow strips, single strips or wires being used, or two or more of them being assembled side by side, so as to form a iiat stay or rib having more nearly than heretofore the qualities of true whalebone. The use of steel thus divided permits iiexure in all directions, each strip being capable of yielding separately to a certain extent even when a number of them are placed side by side and connected together. The compound stay or rib thus made partakes of the brous nature of whalebone and is adapted to yield in a manner similar thereto. By employing drawn wire greater tenacity and a consequent superiority of quality are secured than with the rolled plates, as heretofore commonly employed.

ln the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figures 1,11, and

III are -views in elevation of portions of stays, ribs, or bones madein accordance with the invention, the views showing the parts of stays, ribs, or bones separated and broken away at one end to illustrate the construction; and Fig. 1V is a detail view, on a larger scale, illustrating the coatings for each of the wires united to form the stays, ribs, or bones illustrated in Figs. 1,11, and III.

In carrying the invention into effect l take a steel wire, A, (which may be of any suitable cross-section, round, square, or flat, but which, as shown, is round,) of, say, one or two millimeters in diameter, in width, or in thickness, and coat it iirst with a protecting-varnish, 2, Fig. 1V, and then with a layer of paper, 3,so as to protect the metal from oxidation. The wire so coated I then wrap with thread of cotton, silk, or other textile material, B, of any suitable color, which thread is fastened at the end in any convenient way to prevent unwinding. Strips or wires thus prepared can be used singly incertain parts of corsets, dresses. military equipments, (he. They can be used without any further sheath, or they can be so inclosed, if desired.

Then it is desired to make a flat stay, rib, or bone of sufficient width for the busks and other parts of a corset, where the resistance has to be greater than that afforded by a single strip, l join together side by side a number (two or more) of steel wires or narrow strips to form a flat web and connect themby a weft, C, of cotton, silk, or the like, in the modeemployedinloomsforweavingpassementerie in the manufacture of certain galloons, the place of the warp being supplied by the steel strips or wires; or I join them together by means of a chain-stitch or otherwise; or I use, instead of textile thread, a fine thread of metal, which is or may be tinned, galvanized, nickeled, dac., and may be itself covered with cotton, silk, or the like; or l use threads of catgut, paper, or any suitable material, in any convenient mode, the invention extending generally to the use of a number (two or more) of wires or narrow strips fastened together flexibly side by side, so as to be retained in their relative positions, as well as specially including the same when woven IOO into a galloon or passementerielike or other fabric, as indicated above. I prefer to connect the wires or strips together throughout their whole length; but it is not necessary to do so, owing to the natural stiffness of the steel, and to iinish the ends with a cap, D, of metal or other suitable material. The rib or stay may be inclosed in a sheath of fabric, paper, leather, rbc. 3y weaving together a number of wires or strips, A, the weft C, passing over and under each wire or strip A, and from one ot" themv to the other, constitutes a special sheath, which holds them in proper positions and which permits the passage of a needle in the spaces between the wires for the purpose of stitching the stay or rib to other material.

In practice I weave or otherwise fasten together strips or wires protected or covered by varnish or some substitute therefor, and paper and a wrapping or sheath of thread, as before described with special reference to Fig. IV; but while the use of wires or strips covered or protected by the varnish, papel', and thread (or one or more of them) is specially included in the invention, the latter extends generally to the use ot' wires or strips protected in any suitable way, and also to wires or strips, irrespective of a coating or cover ing therefor. In assembling the wires or strips I join or weave together the wires singly, or two or more in a group. `Thus in Fig. I, regarding the rib or stay as a narrow fabric, each warp is composed of two wires or strips A, while in Figs. II and III each warp is composed of a single wire. In Fig. I there is a row of stitches, 4, between the wires of each pair. Then it is desired to give increased strength, I arrange the strips in two or more layers. Thus in Fig. III a rib or stay composed of tour round wires A, woven together, is backed by two flat wires A', stitched to the former by stitching 5. rlhe invention admits, of course, of a great variety et forms adapted to the special purposes for whiehthe ribs, stays, or bones are designed.

I claim as my invention or discoveryl. A stay, rib, or bone composed of a number of steel wires provided each with a close wrapping of thread, arranged side by side and flexibly connected as a i'latweb, substantially as described.

2. A stay, rib, or bone composed of papercovered steel Wires, each provided with a close wrapping ot thread, arranged side by side and flexibly connected as a tlat web, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

G. 'BOU'ZARIL lVitnesses:

Gno. R. Os'rHnlLMnn, G. J. PRESTON. 

